Purpose

A joint Capital and Revenue Fund that forms part of the Creative Places Growth Fund allocation of the MYIS.

Decision

(1)  That the Change Request (CR) for the Create Central / BFI Skills Accelerator and the associated delivery model to support the continued delivery of the Create Central / BFI Skills Accelerator delivery model until 31 March 2027 be approved.

(2)  That the allocation of £166,500.00 of BFI Skills Accelerator Funding and £56,000.00 of 2026/27 Create Central Cluster funding (£222,500 in total) for the period 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027 to maintain the current delivery model be approved.

(3)  That the allocation of £150,000 of Local Innovation Partnership Funding (LIPF) to Create Central to support delivery of the West Midlands CreaTech Innovation Scale-Up Lab (WM CISL) be approved, subject to acceptance of the funding offer by the Section 73 Officer and review and acceptance of the Grant Funding Agreement and associated legal arrangements with the University of Warwick.

(4)  That authority be delegated to the Interim Executive Director of Policy & Strategy, in consultation with Legal Services, Procurement and Finance; complying with The Combined Authorities (Overview and Scrutiny Committees, Access to Information and Audit Committees) Order 2017, to take all necessary actions required to implement and deliver the programme, including entering into the relevant legal agreements, provided such actions do not materially alter the scope, objectives or approved budget of the programme.